Number The Stars
by Reizna
Summary: Postgame. Two years later, her sacrifice makes him realize what they could have had.


**Disclaimer**: Tri-Ace owns the Star Ocean series, not me.

**Author's Note**: I listened to "Till I Hear You Sing (Once More)" by Ramin Karimloo while writing this. I'm not so sure this one shot fits the song anymore. Darn it all. Oh well, please enjoy my attempt to write an Alnel fic and do me a favor. Review? :D

* * *

It would be today.

The rain was bothersome, but the weather hardly swayed their decision. It would still happen. The Queen of Aquios insisted while the newlywed Queen of Airyglyph agreed. It was _her_ birthday. It was ironic to be buried on the day of one's birth, but it was easier for him to remember. In fact, aside from his own birthday, he would remember this one.

_From ashes to ashes, dust to dust._

The air was tense as he stood beside his queen and king. Elena was in tears and Arzei was attempting to comfort his new wife. Out of the corner of a blood red eye, Albel watched as Elena sobbed into his king's side. The former runology professor had known the wench for years, but she didn't know how Nel was on the battle field.

He had seen a kindness, a soft spot when she fought. She was merciful at times, but against people like him, she had been ruthless. There was a time when they locked gazes on a battlefield when the war first began. Albel had seen her desire to protect her comrades and country at the cost of her life. He called her weak then.

But he was wrong.

He looked on as the High Priestess said a few words. She blessed the name Secret Legion and the name of its leader. There was a twinge which stirred in his chest when his eyes found the pure white casket. The casket's cover lay closed with raindrops from the earlier procession to the mausoleum. White was the color of purity, innocence, but Nel Zelpher was far from innocent.

From that first glance, he had known her inner nature from the first battle they fought. She was the image of purity at court, but he knew every woman had her desires. He had enabled her to find hers. First, it began when they had numbered the stars together. They had learned about the other worlds, planets. It was like they were children again.

Children.

Speaking of children, Albel had vaguely hinted that if he would have any, he would prefer to do so with _her_. Of course, he did not do so in front of the girly worm (Sophia). If he had, he would never hear the end of it. The worm would tease him relentlessly while Nel would plan ways to kill him. There was a faint memory of when he admitted this. It was vague, but he recalled the fool (Cliff) and himself had been drinking before they went to face Luther. Many subjects had been brought up.

Albel recalled the conversation went like so.

"_Drown Roger yet?"_

"_Done, you fool. That soufflé had to go save him."_

"_Soufflé? Pep-what's-her-name?"_

"_Bah, that worm."_

"_Banged her yet?"_

"_Banged? What's this? Another one of your obscure offworlder words?"_

"_Sleep with her?"_

"_Which worm?"_

"_Nel."_

"_That wench?"_

"_Well?"_

"_Bah, she looks like she'd be good."_

"_Fantasize much?"_

"_No."_

"_What?! Not even a little?"_

"_Heh, if I wanted to, I would have had her and a child already."_

Albel was lucky the 'problem-solving' fool blacked out soon after the conversation and had no recollection of it whatsoever. Pondering over his words, he gazed at the casket. He was beginning to get restless, wanting to get up and walk. He moved his gauntlet ever so slightly and heard a high-pitched noise. He needed to take it off and fix it, but he would not do that in front of all these people.

There were a few people had seen what lay under the gauntlet. One of them was returning to the dust of which she came. He watched as the three wenches, Nel's comrades (Farleen, Tynave and Clair) stood up from beside their queen, who went forth to touch the casket. Their queen was crying. The eyes which had pierced through his defenses when he had first stood in her court as Airglyph's emissary were filled with such sadness. It was evident that Zelpher was much more valuable than he had originally thought back then.

"Albel, aren't you-?" Elena spoke softly beside him.

The Captain of the newly merged Black-Dragon Brigade shook his head. The blond streaks of his dual-colored hair tickled his cheeks. He felt cold as he watched all the others go before him. He could have sworn he saw a mop of blue hair followed by the others. He did not focus on them. He did not wish to speak to any of those worms as something stirred in his chest.

"Nevelle would have been proud of her."

"_Why_?!" The whisper was louder than intended.

Albel knew where this conversation was going. He pretended to not hear it.

"She was merciful."

"I heard she saved a Glyphian."

"Is that why the King of Airyglyph himself is here?"

"Who did she die saving?"

There was a pause. "I don't know. They won't say."

Albel fell back into his daze, recalling that day. It had been a bright day, contrary to the day of her funeral. They had been sparring for hours. Insults had been flown here and there, followed by an exchange of blows and blocks. Blood was hardly spilled during their spar. They had known each other's attack patterns by then. When one of her Blades of Ryusen came down on him, Albel would block his waist with his Crimson Scourage and block his face with his claw.

He was enjoying their spar. She enjoyed mocking him, dueling and practicing with him since she was deemed a worthy opponent. She was the only one he had allowed to come close to him. His wickedness melted away before her and Albel was more human than he could ever be.

She had been mocking him before the sudden ambush. The King of the Dead had finally returned to duel Albel once more. She was stubborn and would not let him fight this on his own. It was her hard head which got her killed. Albel never asked for her help.

"_We'll be fine. After this, I have something I have to tell you." _She had told him. They had put up a good fight, but it was simply not enough. Romero attempted to take Albel's life, but _she_ had gotten in the way. She ran in front of Albel and took the killing blow meant for him.

"Fool, look where it got you." He never meant to speak that aloud. Thankfully, no one heard him save for Woltar, who was coming over to speak to him. Albel hardly noticed the old man. Instead, he was more focused on an exchange of words between Aquios' queen and his own.

"If the war had not gone on and their fathers not taken from them, they could have wed."

"It would have been a fine match indeed." said Elena.

Albel scoffed, sitting back in his chair. The feeling of pain lingered in his chest. He would not question it. Or rather, he simply did not want to know. His thoughts focused on the occasion at hand. He had lost his best sparring partner, a woman of great strength who was nothing like the rest.

She was his _kind_ of woman.

"Bothered by the talk between the queens?" Woltar's voice broke Albel's train of thought.

"Bah." was all the young captain replied.

"I take that as a no."

Albel did not reply to this. His gaze merely narrowed at the sight of the old man.

"Your father and Nevelle Zelpher both protested against the war to the point where they even offered their only children to uphold the peace treaty." Woltar paused to let out a cough before continuing, "It is as the women say. You two would have been a good match. I can see it in your face. You will miss her."

"I don't know what you're talking about, you old coot!" Albel hissed. The feeling in his chest grew as he suddenly stood up, looking around. It seemed they were two of last people to still be in the mausoleum. It showed how distracted Albel was. Without another word, Woltar left the boy's side, leading Albel to face the casket by himself. The top of her casket was covered in red rose petals.

He had none to give.

Sighing to himself, his claw touched where her heart would be. This would be the second person who died saving his life. He had sworn after his failed Ascension of the Flame ceremony that there would be no one else. No one else would come close to him. No one would befriend him. No one would make him care enough. No one would have to give up their life to save him again, but there she was.

Nel Zelpher used to be his enemy, but he wasn't so sure what she was now. The peace treaty was in effect and they were prime examples of how a Glyphian and Aquarian should interact. Beyond that, he didn't know.

"_Have you ever wanted to number the stars?"_

Such childish words.

They traveled to places beyond their two kingdoms and saved the world. They shared a room on a spaceship and didn't slaughter each other. In battle, he would ambush the opponents coming at her from behind. Something inside him wanted to protect her, to claim her as his own, but it was too late now.

"She has gone to see her father and yours in the presence of our Lord Apris."

He did not turn to see her, but he knew it was the Queen of Aquios. He would leave soon as he spent too much time lingering about. His claw curled into a fist, grabbing a handful of wet rose petals. Albel did not speak.

"I can see that a dark curse is fading from your soul, Albel." Romeria spoke softly, almost gently and motherly-like. Albel did not know of a mother's love, but merely thought of her tone as pity. The soldier scoffed, but the queen took no notice of it. "The King of the Dead cannot touch you, thanks to her sacrifice."

How did _she_ know about that demon? He should have been asking that question his head, but in its place, he thought of Nel and her sacrifice, as Romeria called it. Nel was a servant of Apris. According to legend, if a maiden of Apris sacrificed her life to save another, her soul and the soul of one whom she saved would be saved from the inferno which Romero had dominion over.

'Foolish woman.' Albel thought.

"I have never known her to take an interest in a man the way she did with you. She must have loved you." Romeria's voice was fading. Footsteps echoed throughout the halls of the mausoleum. Now, Albel was the only one left, standing beside her casket, listening to the rain. The time seemed to move ever so slowly. Minutes felt like days.

He heard Woltar's voice. _You will miss her._

His claw ran along the side of her casket, finding that it was still unlocked. Twisting the knob, he lifted the cover open to see her. If he didn't know better, he would have thought she was merely sleeping until the end of time. For the first time in his presence, Nel looked peaceful. There was a hint of a smile on her face. It was as if she had no regrets. That was the expression on her face when he carried her back to Aquios.

His good hand cupped her left cheek. Her skin was soft against his rough hands. He was taken by surprise since she was a soldier, but then again, she still was a woman. A beautiful woman, he admitted in his thoughts. Not only beautiful, Nel was also strong. She was not anything like the maggots she commanded.

_She must have loved you._

His eyes trailed down her body. They had clothed her in a simple, white dress. The dress was sleeveless and strapless, bearing slits on the sides to show off the red runes tattooed onto her body. His claw moved to her shoulder and traced a single rune, the healing one she had used quite often on him during their travels. The warm rush of energy was one he would no longer feel. The feeling in his chest continued to tighten. It was starting to become unbearable.

This was the second time he had seen her in a dress. The first was during the ball celebrating the marriage between Elena and his King Arzei recently. His king had requested that he should ask Nel to dance that night. To show his loyalty, Albel did what he was asked. The memory of that night was vague, but Albel recalled was having some wine, a battle of wits and subtly leaving the ballroom.

_Then, Zelpher had screamed his name in ecstasy. He had claimed her as his own._

The part he thought was a dream.

Albel glanced down at her hands, which were folded together across her stomach. The Blades of Ryusen would be buried with her. The noble legacy of the Zelpher clan would die with her. She had no kin to pass it onto and did not designate an heir. It was then he noticed something. There were five scratches on her right wrist. The scratches looked identical to ones he…

Her scar came from his claw.

That night wasn't a dream after all.

"You don't know what you do to me, wench." He muttered. Albel realized what this feeling, this weakness in his chest, from his heart. It was something he swore never to feel again. It was love. He would hate to admit it, but the old coot was right. Zelpher would be missed. In Albel's eyes, there would be no other woman like her. No one would be at his level. "That's why I'm making this vow. I will stay true to you as long as I live. I..."

He bent down and his lips touched her cold ones briefly. When he pulled away, he could no longer bare to look. He pulled the cover of the casket down and locked it. His claw grasped the Crimson Scourge tightly.

_I love you, Nel Zelpher._

Those words were left unsaid as he walked away from her casket, never looking back.


End file.
